In a game that was frustrating for a while and downright maddening in the final few innings, the Pirates were able to come away with a win on a rainy Mother’s Day at PNC Park.

A.J. Burnett pitched very well, again. He wasn’t racking up big strikeout numbers today (just four), but instead got a bunch of quick outs and easy innings. The Astros were able to string some timely hits together in the fifth and seventh to scratch out two runs, which unfortunately looked like it would be enough to hand Burnett an un-deserved loss. He’s been fantastic in every start except for the disaster in St. Louis. Eight innings from a starter used to be an extremely rare event for the Bucs–now it’s becoming commonplace.

The Pirates’ offense got off to a nice start, scoring in the first inning for the second straight game. Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen hit back-to-back doubles, and it seemed like the Bucs would be able to hit Wandy Rodriguez well. Not the case. After the first, Wandy got in to the ZONE, facing the MINIMUM through the next seven innings. Pedro Alvarez led off the fourth with a single, but was erased on a double play. That was the only baserunner the Pirates got until the ninth inning, and a devastating 2-1 loss and more grumbling about the offense seemed imminent.

But then, the Astros pulled Rodriguez in favor of their closer Brett Myers in the ninth–a curious decision since Rodriguez was cruising AND beacuse Houston let him bat with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the eighth. Bad move. Jose Tabata drew a leadoff walk, then Walker doubled. All of a sudden, the Bucs were in prime position to tie or walk off. McCutchen was intentionally walked, then Alvarez fell behind in the count but battled and hit a sac-fly to tie the game.

Clint Hurdle then seemingly lost his mind and pinch hit Nate McLouth for Casey McGehee. There were two reaons why this was stupid:

McLouth is a terrible hitter (I don’t care that he’s lefty or had good career numbers off Myers, he’s in an enormous funk right now and McGehee is a decent option).

The Pirates didn’t have anyone left to play first base. Garrett Jones had already pinch-hit and was out of the game

McLouth, of course, had one of the worst AB’s I’ve ever seen and struck out on three pitches (the third strike was a fastball down the middle that he stared at). Hurdle then pinch hit Alex Presley for Yamaico Navarro–another questionable move, especially since Navarro was probably the best remaining 1B option. Presley made an out, and the game headed to extras. Michael McKenry came in to catch, and Rod Barajas grabbed a first-base glove for his first action there since 2008.

Joel Hanrahan tossed a clean tenth in his first game back from his grandmother’s funeral, so the Bucs had another chance. Barajas led off with a single, and of course, was removed for a pinch-runner. Clint Barmes was the only man left (Josh Harrison started at shortstop), and when the Bucs didn’t score, Barmes headed over to first for the next inning. Juan Cruz and Tony Watson pitched scoreless frames, and instead of having one of them bat, Hurdle sent up James McDonald to pinch hit (he struck out). Just awful management of the bench, and he’s lucky there were no difficult plays at first that could have cost the Bucs. Hurdle was also lucky the game didn’t go on longer–he only used Hanrahan and Cruz for one inning despite a short bullpen (Brad Lincoln was only a last resort, because he’s Monday’s starter).

It didn’t look like the Bucs had much going in the bottom of the twelfth, but Barmes doubled with two outs. That brought up Harrison, who lined one to right. Barmes raced home just ahead of the throw, and the Bucs had another walk-off winner at PNC. That had to feel great for J-Hay, who was hitless up to that point and is hitting just .188.

Crazy game. There was lots of bad offense, some strange decisions, but once again great pitching bailed the Pirates out. They won the series vs. the Astros, moving them up in to 3rd in the Central. We’ll take it.